Car parked outside my house

[walm]

singlecoil said:

walm said:

I wouldn't be forcing the owner of a legally parked car to be fined hundreds of pounds.

Why would he be fined at all? He left it legally parked. AIUI, that doesn't attract a fine in this country.

Now you are really confusing me! (Not hard perhaps...)

The car (abandoned one) WAS legally parked but then...

Lawbags said:

The police weren't interested, so one evening, we bumped the back end into the road, thus causing an obstruction.
One call to the police regarding said obstruction and it was moved within half hour.

Usually when the police move your car it is taken to an impound lot where you have to pay hundreds to recover it.

[singlecoil]

walm said:

Usually when the police move your car it is taken to an impound lot where you have to pay hundreds to recover it.

I expect you will find that if you can demonstrate that the car had been left legally parked there would be no fees to be paid.

[mattmurdock]

singlecoil said:

I expect you will find that if you can demonstrate that the car had been left legally parked there would be no fees to be paid.

And how exactly do you do that, when the police have found it there illegally parked. I'm sure they are going to believe that someone else moved it, despite you having no evidence to the contrary.

I usually appreciate your contributions but on this one you are sounding a little ridiculous.

[singlecoil]

mattmurdock said:

And how exactly do you do that, when the police have found it there illegally parked. I'm sure they are going to believe that someone else moved it, despite you having no evidence to the contrary.

I usually appreciate your contributions but on this one you are sounding a little ridiculous.

You've not thought it through, obviously. How the owner would prove it would depend on the circumstances, for instance, if he was still out of the country, then it would be pretty damn improbable that the car had been causing an obstruction for six months before anyone had bothered to report it!

I expect the police were well aware that someone else had moved it, but took the line of least resistance and moved it.

[mattmurdock]

singlecoil said:

You've not thought it through, obviously. How the owner would prove it would depend on the circumstances, for instance, if he was still out of the country, then it would be pretty damn improbable that the car had been causing an obstruction for six months before anyone had bothered to report it!

I expect the police were well aware that someone else had moved it, but took the line of least resistance and moved it.

I'm pretty sure that is irrelevant, as the likelihood of someone deciding to ignore the impound fees regardless of the circumstances would be extremely slim. Even if I could prove I had been out of the country, someone still has to pay it, and that someone will be the cars owner.

[walm]

singlecoil said:

walm said:

Usually when the police move your car it is taken to an impound lot where you have to pay hundreds to recover it.

I expect you will find that if you can demonstrate that the car had been left legally parked there would be no fees to be paid.

Pull the other one - it jingle jangles. (Wait... can I say that any more?)

Firstly, you HAVE to pay. Otherwise the storage unit / tow company won't give you the car back.
Once you have done that - you appeal to get your money back.
So you are definitely out of pocket for a while.

Furthermore, I find it utterly improbable that Joe-Legally-Parked would be able to prove someone else moved the car.

The police have concrete evidence it was unattended and causing an obstruction. We can all agree on that.

How it got there is simply impossible to prove unless you have CCTV footage of the bump-and-grind Lawbleargs did to it.

"I was out of the country." - "Well, you left it causing an obstruction - no one reported it until now."
"But that was 6 months ago." - "Count yourself lucky you don't have 6 months of storage fees then."
"Here's a photo." - "You could have moved it since then."
etc...

[singlecoil]

mattmurdock said:

singlecoil said:

You've not thought it through, obviously. How the owner would prove it would depend on the circumstances, for instance, if he was still out of the country, then it would be pretty damn improbable that the car had been causing an obstruction for six months before anyone had bothered to report it!

I expect the police were well aware that someone else had moved it, but took the line of least resistance and moved it.

I'm pretty sure that is irrelevant, as the likelihood of someone deciding to ignore the impound fees regardless of the circumstances would be extremely slim. Even if I could prove I had been out of the country, someone still has to pay it, and that someone will be the cars owner.

I very much doubt it, that certainly has no basis in law.

[walm]

singlecoil said:

I very much doubt it, that certainly has no basis in law.

You have to pay before you can take the car back.
If you leave it with them, they charge you an exorbitant daily storage fee.

Source: Hackney towed my legally parked car. I had to pay and appeal. Further investigation showed that is SOP.

[singlecoil]

walm said:

You have to pay before you can take the car back.
If you leave it with them, they charge you an exorbitant daily storage fee.

Source: Hackney towed my legally parked car. I had to pay and appeal. Further investigation showed that is SOP.

And what was the outcome of the appeal?

[V8forweekends]

Moominho said:

I have had the same car parked outside my house since the end of August. I'm not sure who the car belongs to, it is only a couple of years old, and in good condition. But it has never been moved, no one has ever come to look at it. It has road tax until 2015. None of the neighbours know who it belongs to. Is there anything I can do, or do I have to just let it sit there?

Have you been sitting looking at it ever since it was parked there, with no sleep and no breaks of any kind?. Otherwise you can't know that no-one's been to look at it.

[walm]

singlecoil said:

And what was the outcome of the appeal?

It's a very different situation but since you asked...

The council had put up signs saying that one parking spot (in a bay of two) was out of action so scaffolding could be put up.
The scaffolding then went up in the OTHER spot leaving a perfectly usable free spot - although signed to say you couldn't use it.

Knowing that Hackney are absolute parking Nazis I would never have parked there because of the sign.
This didn't deter my wife, who no doubt completely ignored the sign/didn't notice it.
("Big yellow thing on a pole right next to the car?? What are you talking about??")

I dutifully went to pay and retrieve the car when it was inevitably towed - in the 1 hour on a Sunday night before I realised what she had done and sprinted out there to move it.
(I had residents' parking at the very corner of four adjoining councils which meant my chance of a free spot was about 25% as good as the regular poor sods who keep cars in London. i.e. not good. I generally had to walk about 15-20mins to the car.)

I only appealed because I happened to chat to a legal friend who said that the appeals people tent to rely on the spirit of the law not the letter and clearly I wasn't causing a problem parking in the "free spot". I should have called on the council to tow the illegally parked scaffolding I suppose.
Anyway whoever it was who decides these things didn't admit defeat - they just let the appeal run out its time and I was refunded by default. About 6 months and 10 letters later IIRC.

[anonymous-user]

V8forweekends said:

Moominho said:

I have had the same car parked outside my house since the end of August. I'm not sure who the car belongs to, it is only a couple of years old, and in good condition. But it has never been moved, no one has ever come to look at it. It has road tax until 2015. None of the neighbours know who it belongs to. Is there anything I can do, or do I have to just let it sit there?

Have you been sitting looking at it ever since it was parked there, with no sleep and no breaks of any kind?. Otherwise you can't know that no-one's been to look at it.

That is some fking AWESOME pedantry.

[V8forweekends]

OpulentBob said:

That is some fking AWESOME pedantry.

I aim to please :-)

[singlecoil]

walm said:

singlecoil said:

And what was the outcome of the appeal?

It's a very different situation but since you asked...

I daresay the situation was different, but what I was seeking to establish was that the mere fact that someone had taken your car away (for whatever reason) didn't mean that you were going to be permanently deprived of several hundred pounds.

[walm]

singlecoil said:

I daresay the situation was different, but what I was seeking to establish was that the mere fact that someone had taken your car away (for whatever reason) didn't mean that you were going to be permanently deprived of several hundred pounds.

It is fair to say that if you have concrete evidence that your car wasn't causing an obstruction, you might get your money back (as in my case).

However, in Lawbags case we know the opposite, the car certainly WAS causing an obstruction.
Proving the owner didn't leave it like that would be nigh-on impossible.

[singlecoil]

walm said:

singlecoil said:

I daresay the situation was different, but what I was seeking to establish was that the mere fact that someone had taken your car away (for whatever reason) didn't mean that you were going to be permanently deprived of several hundred pounds.

It is fair to say that if you have concrete evidence that your car wasn't causing an obstruction, you might get your money back (as in my case).

However, in Lawbags case we know the opposite, the car certainly WAS causing an obstruction.
Proving the owner didn't leave it like that would be nigh-on impossible.

Not at all, depending on the facts of the case, it would be comparatively easy. He obviously didn't need it, which suggests he was away, or in hospital, or in prison. Wherever he was, it would probably be quite easy for him to demonstrate that he had left it there 6 months ago, and that it had only just started to cause an obstruction.

[walm]

singlecoil said:

Not at all, depending on the facts of the case, it would be comparatively easy. He obviously didn't need it, which suggests he was away, or in hospital, or in prison. Wherever he was, it would probably be quite easy for him to demonstrate that he had left it there 6 months ago, and that it had only just started to cause an obstruction.

To every attempt they can surely just say... "no one called it in until today, you left it like that".

[singlecoil]

walm said:

singlecoil said:

Not at all, depending on the facts of the case, it would be comparatively easy. He obviously didn't need it, which suggests he was away, or in hospital, or in prison. Wherever he was, it would probably be quite easy for him to demonstrate that he had left it there 6 months ago, and that it had only just started to cause an obstruction.

To every attempt they can surely just say... "no one called it in until today, you left it like that".

Of course they can, but fortunately this is England, and whoever 'they' are, they don't have the last word.

[Hol]

walm said:

You have to pay before you can take the car back.
If you leave it with them, they charge you an exorbitant daily storage fee.

Source: Hackney towed my legally parked car. I had to pay and appeal. Further investigation showed that is SOP.

That explains why you have fixated just on the towing issue.

I did wonder why?

[photosnob]

singlecoil said:

walm said:

singlecoil said:

I daresay the situation was different, but what I was seeking to establish was that the mere fact that someone had taken your car away (for whatever reason) didn't mean that you were going to be permanently deprived of several hundred pounds.

It is fair to say that if you have concrete evidence that your car wasn't causing an obstruction, you might get your money back (as in my case).

However, in Lawbags case we know the opposite, the car certainly WAS causing an obstruction.
Proving the owner didn't leave it like that would be nigh-on impossible.

Not at all, depending on the facts of the case, it would be comparatively easy. He obviously didn't need it, which suggests he was away, or in hospital, or in prison. Wherever he was, it would probably be quite easy for him to demonstrate that he had left it there 6 months ago, and that it had only just started to cause an obstruction.

You do realise the car is crushed or sold after a certain amount of time...

You also realise that merely saying I didn't leave it like that won't work. You would need to prove it on the balance of probabilities. The easy retort to that is someone with the keys moved it, thus as the registered keeper you are responsible if you want the car back.

Justifying this with pub lawyer rubbish is not helping. Leave people's cars alone.